Tornado Sound Comparison

[Mike Smith]

From the 5/19 Reports Thread:

One of the tornadoes passed within 100 yards of me along a farm road. It was close enough I could hear it. The sound is kind of difficult to describe, kind of like someone saying "shhhhhhhh" for about a full minute as it was tossing tumbleweeds about 100 feet into the air.

When I was chasing the May 8, 2003, Lyndon-Lawrence tornado (F-3) I heard the same sound which I thought sounded like a waterfall at a distance.

I also heard a low rumble which, I assume, is the sound that people think sounds like a freight train.

It was interesting to me that the sound from the tornado was on two distinct audio frequencies.

 

[Mike Peregrine]

Last week I returned to the site of my close call in 2006 and it's amazing, but I can still hear that sound when I think about it. There is a simultaneous lower-pitched roar and a higher frequency "whine" that sounds identical to a low-flying jet aircraft engine to me. It's just like winding a top up and listening to it whir across the floor, only on a much larger scale.